Ryder Cup players call Fred Couples, want him as 2016 captain
Tom Watson didn’t work as Ryder Cup captain. Watson, an old-school player who apparently led more on resume than relatability, rubbed his charges the wrong way.
It’s natural, then, that the players who didn’t appreciate Watson’s style would want to turn to a complete opposite in hopes of better luck in 2016 at Hazeltine National in Minnesota. And who would be that opposite? Why, of course, Fred Couples.
Couple tells Golf World all of the players from the ’14 squad and Tiger Woods, who didn’t play on the team with a back injury hampering his season, messaged him soon after the week at Gleneagles to recruit his expertise.
“When they all got home, they said, ‘We need you to do this,'” Couples said.
Were it offered to him, the 1992 Masters champion wouldn’t come into the job cold. Couples led the U.S. to three straight Presidents Cup wins as captain, walking away after the ’13 matches at Muirfield Village in Ohio.
The question now isn’t if the players want him; it’s if the PGA of America will. Couples said last week at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship that he isn’t a “PGA of America guy” and doesn’t support the 11-man task force convened by the body, on which sit both Woods and Phil Mickelson, the most vocal dissenter against Watson in Scotland.
As it relates to Mickelson, Boom-Boom has loved having him on his teams, saying, “Phil Mickelson has been the best [team] guy on every team I’ve ever been on, by far.”
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
